The present invention relates to the assessment of a student""s learning, and more particularly to mechanisms for tracking assessments of performances by a student which demonstrate progress in developing specific abilities.
In a traditional educational institution, students attend class lectures and read assigned materials outside of class. In order to determine the progress toward learning the subject matter of the course, the educators assign papers and other types of projects to the students, as well as periodically administer written examinations. These student performances then are evaluated by the teacher and a grade is assigned indicating the relative quality of the performance. At the completion of a course, the grades for all the performances are averaged to create an overall grade assessing each student""s level of mastering the course subject matter.
Secondary schools, colleges, and universities traditionally calculate a cumulative grade point average by averaging the overall grade for each course taken by the student. A student is required to receive a specified number of credit hours of instruction and at least a minimum a cumulative grade point average in order to be graduated from these schools. In traditional educational institutions, other than observing that the student has taken specific courses and received a particular grade in each course, there is no mechanism for the student or teacher to track a student""s progress in mastering abilities which are important to a major field of study.
An alternative technique for assessing students"" learning has been developed by Alverno College in Milwaukee, Wis. That approach identifies eight abilities that students must use to demonstrate sufficient knowledge in order to receive a degree. With reference to FIG. 1, these abilities are: communication, analysis, problem solving, valuing in decision making, social interaction, global perspectives, effective citizenship, and aesthetic responsiveness. Four basic levels of proficiency have been defined for each of the abilities with specific requirements at each level. Additional levels are incorporated into outcome statements required for each student according to the nature of her major. For example, a student majoring in journalism has to demonstrate greater proficiency in the communication ability than a student majoring in chemistry.
Each course provides instruction which enables the student to develop different levels of each of these eight abilities integrated with the subject matter of the course. A student starts out taking courses which satisfy level one of various abilities and with each subsequent year of study takes courses which provide instruction at higher levels of the abilities. Although there are four levels with respect to each ability, the levels do not correspond to each year of a four year program toward receiving a degree. For example, a course taken by a student during her second year of study may provide instruction directed toward ability level one or level three.
During each course, the student is presented with several assignments to prepare performances, such as papers, examinations, speeches, and other projects, which develop and demonstrate proficiency in the associated abilities. For example, a course in a science may present a problem which the student must solve by defining and performing an experiment. Such an assignment would involve the abilities of analysis, problem solving and communication of the results.
Upon the completion of a performance, the student evaluates her performance based on criteria given by the instructor. The instructor performs a similar assessment of the performance which constitutes feedback to the student. The performance is evaluated in the context of whether the student has satisfactorily demonstrated proficiency at the appropriate level of the associated abilities. The students do not receive a traditional grade for each performance or for the course as a whole. Instead the faculty member provides an indication whether the course was completed satisfactorily or unsatisfactorily with a designation of the corresponding levels of ability.
As the student progresses through each course, she compiles a portfolio of information about significant, or key, performances with evaluations by herself, faculty members, sometimes student peers, and perhaps by persons from outside the educational institution who witness the performance. This portfolio should demonstrate a progression through the course to satisfying the requisite abilities. In a larger context, the portfolio of performance evaluations acquired during several years of instruction should demonstrate a progressive mastering of the eight core abilities, both in courses and in other contexts. The student and faculty members periodically review the student""s portfolio of key performances in order to evaluate the student""s overall progress and analyze where improvement is needed and what strategies might help her education.
In order to perform such an overall evaluation of the student""s progress toward proficiency in each ability, the nature and quality (strengths and weaknesses in relation to criteria) of the performances completed inside and outside various courses must be readily available. This may be difficult as the related documents typically are retained in the files of several different departments within a college or university. Even if the performance evaluations are stored centrally, the amount of paper can be voluminous. In addition, it is desirable to organize the performance evaluations in several different ways, such as by ability, level of the abilities, and descriptions or subject areas. Such organization becomes difficult when the performance evaluations are kept as pieces of paper within file folders. Therefore, it is desirable to create a system for storing data regarding student performances from which the information can be presented a number of ways for analysis.
A database system records, organizes and displays information related to performances of a student which demonstrate her development of competency in the different abilities through which she uses her knowledge as required by an educational institution.
The database system has a data storage structure which for each student contains documentation about a plurality of performances completed by that student and which of the plurality of abilities each performance demonstrates. A user interface is coupled to the data structure and selectively presents information about an extent to which each student has demonstrated proficiency in each of the plurality of abilities within varied knowledge bases.
In the preferred embodiment of the database system, the information about a given performance completed by a student identifies the nature of the given performance, the criteria for successful demonstration, and specifies which of the plurality of predefined abilities are associated with the given performance. An evaluation of the given performance by a faculty member also is stored. The student submits a self assessment of her performance which also is retained in the data storage structure.
The preferred embodiment of the user interface enables the stored information to be organized and displayed in a number of formats. One of which is a two dimensional matrix with the plurality of abilities listed along one axis and different levels of achievement listed along another axis. The matrix has a plurality of cells each associated with one of the plurality of abilities and one of the levels of achievement. Within each cell is a list of courses which t he particular student has completed and other outside course contexts that demonstrate proficiency at the associated ability level. Another display format enables a student to review a given performance and the evaluations thereof.
The database system facilitates review of a student""s progress toward satisfying proficiency in each of the abilities prescribed by the educational institution. It enables a student to quickly identify where further work is required and the types of courses that will meet the deficient ability levels. Faculty and administrators also are able to monitor the students"" performance and progress via the performance portfolio database.